Do you have a favorite legion?

Do you have a favorite legion? - Printable Version

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Do you have a favorite legion? - JRSCline - 01-20-2001

If so, which one, and why's it your favorite?

Re: Do you have a favorite legion? - Anonymous - 01-25-2001

My "pet" legion has always been the Mighty X Fretensis! Since I was a kid in Sunday school I've been intrigued by the legions. I've also had a strong interest in the affairs of the middle east both in ancient and modern times. My focus has always been the military affairs in the Roman near east, indeed "Josephus: The Jewish War" is my bible. The War in its entirety ending in the tragic (and admittedly) exciting siege of Jerusalem with all it's attendant horrors, sorrows, acts of selfless bravery on both sides, the conviction of both sides and the sheer desperation of the situation makes it the ultimate opera! The World Famous Tenth was smack in the middle of it all and is the first legion that comes to mind when you think of that corner of the empire. Vale, Velius

Re: Do you have a favorite legion? - richsc - 02-09-2001

From my Latin classes and the translations of Caesar, the only one that has stood out has been the tenth, who's aquilifer jumped ashore into a mob of Britons. Until just recently it's been the only one I could ever remember and the image has stuck with me. Too bad we can't find his tombstone.

Re: Do you have a favorite legion? - Catiline - 02-09-2001

Scyth Scyth Scyth It's not a bug, it's a feature

Re: Do you have a favorite legion? - Anonymous - 02-10-2001

Why Scythica, Catiline? (just wondering) ...or not.

Re: Do you have a favorite legion? - Anonymous - 02-10-2001

nah....the auxilia are much more interesting. 
 
actually I do believe that. 
Ever since we stopped being legionary and became an auxiliary unit, I have found the auxilia a more interesting topic... 
 
but I do still like Leg XIIII Gem :-)

Re: Do you have a favorite legion? - Catiline - 02-10-2001

Absolutely no sensible reason at all i just fancied being different, and i'm interested in the Scythians, so i thought I'd approppriate 'their' legion. They don't seem to have disgraced themselves, and so the boys deserve to have their memory kept alive. As I've said elsewhere my bets are on Valeria Victrix an the IX Hispana to go first when the time comes. 
 
Weren't the XIV in disgrace and punished after 69, or is that just my imagination (I've left my Keppie at home, so i don't have any instant legion histories to hand) It's not a bug, it's a feature

Re: Do you have a favorite legion? - Anonymous - 06-30-2001

I guess it would have to be Caesar's X & all of Scipio Africanus' legions.

Re: Do you have a favorite legion? - Anonymous - 07-03-2001

Yep, gotta agree with Section, et al. The Tenth has always had that allure with me. As for the west (and to keep in good standing with my local brethren), II Augusta does it for me as well (down the Britons!). 
 
But let's get serious. Praetorians rule! (Large gratuities will be considered in an attempt to sway my opinion!) Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showLocalUserPublicProfile?login=coh3pr>coh3pr</A> at: 7/3/01 4:26:36 pm

Re: Do you have a favorite legion? - Anonymous - 07-05-2001

XIV - Gemina 
 
Only because I'm a Gemini... SI HOC LEGERE POTES, OPERIS BONI IN REBVS LATINIS FRVCTVOSIS POTIRI POTES.

Re: Favorite Legion - Anonymous - 07-05-2001

In the Western Empire, it's got to be XX Valeria Victrix! Have you ever tried to kick Boudiccan assets? What did the Praetorians ever do but whine about donatives and kill their emperor (who they were supposed to protect, by the way!) if they didn't get their own way?? 
In the East, it's got to be X Fretensis. But, mathematically speaking, they're only half the legion that the XXth is! Libenter homines id quod volunt credunt!

Re: Favorite Legion - Guest - 07-06-2001

Salve, 
 
The service record of the praetorian guard is often underestimated. The cohortes praetoriae took to the field during campaigns involving the emperor, his relatives and the praetorian prefects. Thus praetorians served with the campaigns of Germanicus, with the invasion of Britain, in the civil war of the year of the four emperors, on the Danube under Domitianus and Traianus, against second century bandits in Italy and later on they supplied the backbone of the imperial field armies that saw much action in the third century CE against both other Romans and barbarians. At first this may have meant that troops may have seen only action in one major campaign in their years of service, though the same may have been true for many legionaries in this period. For the third century the praetorians can be expected to have seen at least as much action as the frontier forces, if not more. The legions (that is the officers, since the rank and file does not seem to have bothered much both in the legions and guards) were as much involved in political intrigues as the praetorians. There were plenty mutinies and usurpations originating in the provincial armies. 
 
Regards, 
 
Sander van Dorst

Re: Favorite Legion - Anonymous - 07-06-2001

How did one enlist in the Praetorian Guard? Did a soldier have to be AJ Squared Away and be selected because he was head and shoulders above the rest, or was the Praetorian Guards made mostly of volunteers? SI HOC LEGERE POTES, OPERIS BONI IN REBVS LATINIS FRVCTVOSIS POTIRI POTES.

Re: Favorite Legion - Guest - 07-06-2001

Salve, 
 
Troops could both volunteer and be conscripted into the army and this included the guard as well as the legions or auxiliary forces. In the first and second century CE most of the recruits would come from Italy or citizen coloniae from the provinces, notably from Macedonia and Spain. In part troops were also transferred from the provincial armies, though this was, with the exception of the guard formed by Vitellius, an occasional affair before the reign of Septimius Severus. From then on transfer of picked legionaries became the normal manner of recruitment and soldiers from the Danubian provinces began to dominate the ranks. Whether this was more about proven qualities than the right personal connections is debatable, but both factors played a part in other military promotions and favouritism was an accepted part of everyday life. 
 
Whether there was a length requirment as exist today for the Guards regiments in the British army is unsure, though Vegetius describes that men for the cavalry and the first cohort of a legion had to meet higher height standards than other troops. Even though Vegetius is a problematic source, in this instance his statement seems to be confirmed in part at least by another source reference that the emperor Maximinus was made a horseman because of his length. It is however unknown whether a similar requirement existed for the praetorian guard. Personal appearance of troops in general had to be smart and guards attending to duties within the pomerium wore the toga rather like modern bodyguards wear suits. 
 
Regards, 
 
Sander van Dorst Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showLocalUserPublicProfile?login=sandervandorst>Sander van Dorst</A> at: 7/6/01 7:48:20 pm

Re: Height Requirements - Anonymous - 07-06-2001

I'm intrigued about the height requirements because in the U.S. Army to part of the Old Guard, a soldier has to be at least 5' 11" tall. I read that in the Roman Army (during the Republic at least) 5' 9" inches tall was considered ideal for a soldier. 
 
Do you know the exact difference in height for qualification to the Praetorian Guard? 
 
Te gratia ado. SI HOC LEGERE POTES, OPERIS BONI IN REBVS LATINIS FRVCTVOSIS POTIRI POTES.